Keyless combination-lock mechanism for padlocks, door locks, and the like



P. ARNATI March 15, 1927.

KEYLESS COMBINATION LOCK MECHANISM FOR PADLOCKS, noon LOCKS, AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 27. 1925 2 Shets-$hept 1 FIG] Manih 15,1927. 1,621,148

P. ARNATI KEYLESS COMBINATION LOCK MECHANISM FOR PADLOGKS. DOOR LOCKS, AND THE LI KE Filed Jan. 27. 1925 '2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 15, 1927.

UNITED STATES PHILIPPE V ARNATI,

TENT o F ce.

or rams, FRANCE.

KEYI iEss COMBINATION-LOCK MECHANISM ron BADLOCKS, noon. LOCKS, AND THE: .LIKE

Application filed January 27, ieza se ial No. 5,053. and in France February e, 1924. i

The present invention relates to a combi-' such manner that a predetermined combina- 7 tion of figures is realized.

Another feature of the invention consistsin the fact that the combination can be changed at will without being obliged to take the mechanism apart, due to a suitable connection between each cam and its corresponding toothed wheel, and thus after the cam has been held by means of a pointed instrument, for instance a needle, which is inserted through the mechanism which has been preliminarilybrought into the open p0- sition, each of the toothed wheels can be displaced by a chosen angle with reference to ts corresponding cam.

According to a certain form of construc tion, the said connection is obtained by the use of a fiat spring whereof one end is secured to the face of thecam and'the other, having the shape of a pawl, is engaged'with one of the teeth of the wheel mounted upon the said cam.

The following description with reference to the appended drawings which are given by way of example sets forth the said invention.

Fig. 1 shows themechanism applied to a padlock, and in the closed position.

Figs. 1", 1 and 1 are detail views of the vmechanism. 1 Fig. 2 is aview of the lock mechanism, in

X-X and tively. g V

Fig. 5 shows the operation ofthe" locking mechanism. f v

Fig. 6 shows a modification, representing the interior of the padlock. I

Fig. 7 shows a toothed wheel. "Fig. 8 is a section Fig. 7

X X of Figs. 1 and 2 respecon the line of Within the casing 0 of the said padlock, three toothed wheels a b 0 are mounted in the coaxial position and are respectively secured to the milled heads a b 0 In the construe-- tional form'herein represented, the milled head 6 is keyed to the shaft 6 which is secured by a pin to the milled head 12 Each of the toothed wheels a' b '0 comprises a toothed'portion a b c and a smooth portioni/z Z2 0 each wheel is secured to a respective cam A B C in which are formed the notches A 13 C the saidcams and wheels are disposed upon acommon center line X-X, Fig. 3r

Each of the toothed wheels is connected with its respective cam by means of a spring strip, as shown at A for the cam A, one end' A of the said strip being secured to the cam,

while the other end A 'is engaged with one of the teeth of the portion a The same disposition prevails for the other combinations 6 B; c C, as shown in Fig. 5; the connecting springs for the latter combinations, are not shown in the figures for the sake of clearness, but the arrangement is the same as for the-spring A Fig. 1.

The cams-A B C cooperate on. theirperiphery wlth a common rod 6 secured to the end of the lever 7 which is pivoted at.

g and whereof theother end f is pivoted to thelatch h. Uponthesaid latch is mounted the strap 2' whose cheeksare apertu'red at j, Fig. 4; like apertures are formed at 0 in the front plate of the casing 0, and alsoat 0 0 0* in the respective cams A B C.

The said toothed Wheels, with their cams. are held in position by the spring strips (0'' b c which are separately disposed, as shown the side of the casing, as shown at a in Fig.

1 for the'spring, a the" other'end a b 0'? being engaged after the manner of a ,pawl

with a tooth of the cooperating part it of the wheel. l

' The operation is as follows? i 1 Fig. 2, all the cams will occupy. a position such "that'the notches A B C will coincide with asuitable rod 6 which is controlled by a spring 6 and is thus engaged with the notches. A 13 0*; the arm f will have the 7 position shown in Fig. 2 in which the latch The padlock being in the ,open position, a

in Fig. 5, and whereof one end is secured to h is drawnback and is thus disengaged from the staple fh of the curved arm of the padlock. i 1

Each of the Wheels it 0 has a deterterrned the inoperative positioin'can' be readmined an ular position with respectto its i'ly found by a fewtrials, and the head a corresponc ing cam A B or C; with're'feience' is "then turned so as to efiiect coincidence to Fig. 5 it is observed tliatithe fourth rec'ess' between -therecess and the pawl (4 the or space between the teeth of the POItiOD CZUD 1 will now have the position shown in proceeding-an the clockwise direction w ill" angle 00, or by 4 teeth, and this can be coincide with the notch A the. sizrth recess readily performed by counting a successive is in coincidence 'with 'the" notch 13*; 'the clicks, or in "all 5 'c li'cks,'since' the first comseVentlr recess: is in coincidence with' the' 'bination figure is 5. I proceed in like inannotch C ner by turningthe head 5 into" the inoperaci -starting"fronithe smootlr part 'ai 'and l i'g'l fitinust nowhturnedthroiighthe If the =operation is commenced by brin i tive position then turning it so as to I ing the wheel a-zinto a. positionwhereinthe efiect jcoincidence b-etween the pawl '5 and last recess 10 engages the pawl of, Fig; 1, thetooth'No'. 1 (the number 1 being counted the cam muste turned in the clockwisegdifi'oinfthe first click,Fig. 1) {the cam' B is rection arrow 1*) throughthe anglea in then turned through an an le corresponding ;'witli the rod efthis angle a corresponds to i' .teeth. In like manner. .fiille operationln like manner,

order to bring the notch A in'to c'oin'oidencefto 7 additional clicks, or in 51118 clicks,' since 7 S is the secondfigure ofthe combination. Q'click; are produced by is commenced by bringing the wheel b into means offthe head 0 At ithis time, the a position wherein-the tooth 1 engages the, padlock will be in the unlocked position. pawl 6 Fig. 11", the wheel IHHSlL bG turned One of the features of'the locking device through. an angle B according to the arrow according to the invention, consists in "the F in order to efiect coi'ncidencebetween fact that the combination can be ch'a'nged at the notch 13 andthe rod 6. The-angle B- will without taking the device {apart or recorresponds t Tteeth. x l, v 1 rnoving the said' wheels,such as is required .If'the operation is-commenced byfibr ng- 1n the known padlocks, and'in inysaiddeing the wheel 0 into a {position such that the vice, the combination can be changed only i corresponding-tot; teeth. It should be gnoted. pered with.

' recess l en'gagesthepawl cflthecizntQ must when the mechanism as, in the unlocked be turned through an angle p this angle position, so that the padloclccanriot'be tamthat the direction of thearrow F in lEigs. For-this purpo eihe mechanism having 1 and 1 is contrary'to the direction o f the been brought into the unlocked position, a arrow in 1 sincetheknob' or head needle or a small nail is i'ns'erted "into the a controlling the wheel a, and the heads holes 0 0 0"{0 and j, thus holding the three b 0 respectively controllingthe wheels Z) cains'in position. "Thethree inilledheads c, are. disposed upon opposite sides cfthe may now be turned so as'to ichangethe posipadlock; injthese conditions, the ioperation 131011 of each cain relatively toj'itswheel, and

the padlockwill now be in the locked posiamounts to turning thesaid heads a l)? 0 in {this position can be readil ascertained by th l k i di ti I p '7 counting'the nuinber 'of clicks due to the f the, P dlock is vclosed, nd the, come movement of the pawl ends of" the spr ngs binationj is mixed up by turning the three such as'A from one tooth'tohnother.

Obviously,'the said invention is'not lnnheads' a v b oi through' any desired angle,

ited to'the constructional fol-ins here'inbettore tion inasmuch asthe rod 6 no'longer-coindescribed, and is susceptible ofall desired cides with the {notchesA B C? inthe said modifications without departing'from the cams; herein lillGSDlOOtll part ofthe cam spirit ofthe invention. In particular, I

- impels the said ro'dand causes the lever to may combine any suitablenuinber'oftoothed pivot-at 9," thus bringingv the latch h flOln wheels, and may further. dispose the inil'led I will enter the staple 7L combinationis for example589, the inecha- 'binauon' nun'iber coinp'rises the position which itoccu piedinFig. at into heads ,upon'oneor bothsidesof the padlock.

the position shown in Fig. :1 in which it The plain part fof the said wheels may be p x I n I I r I striated or slightly grooved or, milled in Supposing that the figure representing theu order to obviate allsl pping when the comnism canloe, released by proceeding as above figures.

indicated; T he head a is turned inorder In the device hereinbefore described, each zero among the. V V 120 toe liiect coincidence between the s nooth'part wheel comprise's'a smooth or roughened part, a andthe endcfl ofthe spring a it will Wl11Cl1 ,fO1IIlS the inoperative (or zero) --1')ordoe an easy inatter'toutake accoinit of this 't-ion. "But in' virtue "of the lengthof this posit on, for upon a-slightrotationof the portion, a combinatlon compris ng the zero 1 head a no clickingrsound will be heard, figure cannot 'b e employed; and some prepawl a engages a recess between two and this sound-"will'be heardonly' 'wlienthe cautions inust'be taken in order to ascertain teeth whether the sa-idp'awlhas beenbioiightupon or proceeds from one tooth to anothen The this part. i

above-mentioned position, which may be This smooth portion of the wheelmay'be dispensed with (Figs. 6, 7 and 8) by sub stituting therefor a suitable notch a having a greater depth than the said recesses between the teeth, 'so that when the milled notch are spaced in a uniform manner upon the periphery of the wheels, and the diameter of the latter can be accordingly reduced. V V

The connecting means between the cam and its corresponding toothed wheel may consist of a small strip spring or rod a which is maintained by the milled head and is for instance disposed as shown in Fig.8 in a slot formed in the said milled head, the

f curved end of the said spring engaging a hole or slot A A etc., formed in the cam.

What'I claim is:

l. A combination lock device, comprising a plurality of juxtaposed cams, a toothed wheel adjacent each cam, a notch upon the periphery of each cam, elastic means connecting each wheelwith its adjacent cam and providing for the angular displacement of each wheel upon its cam, an elastic member forming a pawl co-operating with each of the respective wheels and engaging one tooth, a latch, a movable member secured thereto, means whereby the said movable member together with thelatch can be displaced only when the notches of all the cams are in line, independent external elements for the separate angular displacement of each wheel and cam unit to form the combination of figures as determined by the audible clicks produced by each unit.

2-. A combination lock device, comprising juxtaposed cams, a toothed wheel adjacent each cam, a notch upon the periphery of each'cam, a resilient pawl connecting each wheel with its corresponding cam, a resilient pawl co-operating with each wheel fixed at one end and having its free end engaging a tooth of the wheel the combined thickness of the pawls being of substantially the same thickness of a wheel, a latch, a pivoted lever connected therewith, a bar secured to the end of the said lever and in contact with the edges of the said cams, and milled heads for separately rotating the respective cam and wheel units, whereby the said notches in the cams may be brought into line. 7

8. A combination lock device, comprising juxtaposed cams, a toothed wheel adjacent eachcam, a notch upon the periphery of each cam, a spring connecting each wheel with its corresponding cam having one end secured to the wheel, each cam having an aperture cooperating'with' the outer end of the said spring, a resilient pawl co-operating with each wheel fixed at one end and having its free end engaging a tooth of the wheel, a latch, a pivoted lever connected therewith, a bar secured to the end of the said lever and in contactwith the edges of the said cams, and milled heads for rotating the respective cam and wheel units, whereby the said notches in vthe cams may be brought into line.

4. A combination lock device, comprising juxtaposed cams, a toothed wheel adjacent. each cam, a notch upon the periphery of each oam, elastic means connecting each wheel with its corresponding cam, means whereby each wheel may be angularly displaced, rela- V tively to its corresponding cam without opening the lock'when changing the combination of figures, an elastic element forming a pawl for each toothed wheel and engaging one'tooth, a latch, a movable member connected therewith, means whereby the said movable member together with the latch can be displacedlonly when thenotches'of all the cams are in line, and means for-the separate angular displacement of each wheel and cam unit.

v 5. A combination lock device, comprising a casing, juxtaposed cams mounted therein,

.a toothed wheel adjacent eachcam, a notch upon the per phery of each cam, elastic means connecting each wheel with its correspondmg cam, each cam havingan aperture formed therein, a latch, a strap secured to the latter and having oppositely situated apertures formed in two branches thereof, said casmg having a corresponding aperture formed therein and adapted to cooperate with the above-mentioned apertures whereby a needleinay be inserted through the said apertures for the purpose of holding the wheels in the fixed position when the apertures in the said wheels have been placed in line, whereby the combination of figures can be changed by the angular displacement of the cams'relatively to their wheels which are held in the fixed position, an elastic element formlng a pawlfor each wheel and engaging one tooth, a movable member secured to said latch, means whereby the said movable member together with the latch can I be displaced only when the notches of all the cams are in line, and means for the separate angular displacement of each wheel and cam unit.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification.

, PHILIPPE RNATI] y x 

